Global News:

Researchers Pinpoint Neural Nanoblockers in Carbon Nanotubes
Brown University August 29th, 2009 A team of Brown University scientists has pinpointed why carbon nanotubes tend to block a critical signaling pathway in neurons. It's not the tubes, the team finds, but the metal catalysts used to form the tubes. The discovery means carbon nanotubes without metal catalysts may be useful in treating human neurological disorders. Results appear in Biomaterials.

IBM Scientists First to Image the “Anatomy” of a Molecule
IBM Corporation August 29th, 2009 IBM (NYSE: IBM) scientists have been able to image the "anatomy" -- or chemical structure -- inside a molecule with unprecedented resolution, using a complex technique known as noncontact atomic force microscopy.

New Cancer Drug Delivery System Is Effective and Reversible
National Cancer Institute August 29th, 2009 For cancer drug developers, finding an agent that kills tumor cells is only part of the equation. The drug also must spare healthy cells, and ideally its effects will be reversible to cut short any potentially dangerous side effects. Investigators from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report that they have assembled a new cancer drug delivery system that, in cell culture, achieves all of the above. The findings appear in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

Nanoparticles Detect and Profile Cancer Cells Rapidly
National Cancer Institute August 29th, 2009 Using a new type of paramagnetic nanoparticle and a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) system built into a microfluidic device, a team of investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School has created an assay system capable of detecting as few as two cancer cells in 1 microliter of biological fluid. In addition, the new assay requires little sample processing and produces results in less than 15 minutes.

Nanoparticle-Based Gene Therapy Technique Could Fight Late-Stage Tumors
National Cancer Institute August 29th, 2009 Nanoparticle delivery of diphtheria toxin-encoding DNA that expresses selectively in ovarian cancer cells reduced the burden of ovarian tumors in mice, and researchers expect that this therapy could be tested in humans with advanced ovarian cancer within 18 to 24 months, according to a report in Cancer Research. If additional tests are successful, these finding could lead to a new treatment for ovarian cancer, which now causes more than 15,000 deaths each year in the United States. Because it is usually diagnosed at a relatively late stage, ovarian cancer is one of the most deadly forms of the disease.

Nanotubes Destroy Kidney Tumors
National Cancer Institute August 29th, 2009 By injecting multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into tumors and heating them with a quick, 30-second zap of a laser, a multi-institutional team of researchers from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine (WFUSOM), Wake Forest University Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials, Rice University, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University has developed a new type of therapy that effectively kills kidney tumors in nearly 80% of treated mice. Researchers say that the findings, which were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, suggest a potential future cancer treatment for humans.

Nanoflares Light Up Molecules in Live Cells
National Cancer Institute August 29th, 2009 By combining a gold nanoparticle with a unique family of nucleic acids, researchers at Northwestern University have created a new type of intracellular reporting system that with a flash of light reveals the presence and quantity of a wide variety of biologically important molecules. These so-called nanoflares could provide cancer biologists with a highly sensitive method of tracking complex biochemical processes in real time without interfering with those processes.

Nanotags Pinpoint Multiple Cancer Markers in Live Animals
National Cancer Institute August 29th, 2009 Using nanoparticles designed specifically to produce a bright Raman spectroscopic signal, a team of investigators at the Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence Focused on Therapy Response (Stanford University Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence [CCNE]) has shown that it can simultaneously track as many as 10 different optical tags in a living animal. This work, the first to use surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for multiplexed imaging in a living animal, was reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The results point to the potential of Raman spectroscopy for multiplexed imaging of cancer biomarkers.

New Nanoparticles Could Revolutionize Therapeutic Drug Discovery
National Cancer Institute August 29th, 2009 Earlier this year, researchers at the University of Washington reported that they had developed a toxin-nanoparticle combination that inhibits brain cancer invasion (click here for story) when added to tumor cells growing in culture. Now, the same group of investigators, led by Miqin Zhang, Ph.D., principal investigator of the Nanotechnology Platform for Pediatric Brain Cancer Imaging and Therapy, has developed an improved version of this toxin-nanoparticle construct that, when injected into animals, can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and reveal the presence of tumors in the brain.

Antibody Replacements Just a "Click" Away (Special Interest Story)
National Cancer Institute August 30th, 2009 Chemists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and The Scripps Research Institute (SRI) have developed an innovative technique to create cheap but highly stable chemicals that have the potential to take the place of the antibodies used in many standard medical diagnostic tests. James R. Heath, Ph.D., principal investigator of the Nanosystems Biology Cancer Center at Caltech, one of eight Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, and K. Barry Sharpless, Ph.D., SRI, and their colleagues describe the new technique in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

NSF-Funded Ethics Report on Human Enhancement Released Today
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA August 30th, 2009 Q&A format gives an easy-to-understand introduction and outline of key issues

SEMATECH and Shin-Etsu Chemical Company Partner at the UAlbany NanoCollege to Develop Resist Materials for 22 nm Patterning Technologies and Beyond
SEMATECH August 31st, 2009 Collaboration will demonstrate new EUV materials at Resist Materials and Development Center at CNSE's Albany NanoTech

Graphene Transistors Introduced by Iranian Scientists
Fars News Agency August 31st, 2009 Engineers at Sharif University of Technology, Iran, devised a technique to form energy gaps in graphene energy bands so that they were enabled to switch off electric current in graphene.

Biodevice project comes down to the nanowire
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory August 31st, 2009 If manmade devices could be combined with biological machines, laptops and other electronic devices could get a boost in operating efficiency. Researchers at DOE's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have devised a versatile hybrid platform that uses lipid-coated nanowires to build prototype bionanoelectronic devices.

Kuo opens nanomaterial plant in Mexico
plasticsnews.com August 31st, 2009 Mexican food and chemicals to car parts producer Grupo Kuo SAB de CV has launched a new subsidiary to manufacture polymer additives, nanocompounds and special nanomaterials. The new offshoot, Macro-M SA de CV, has opened a plant in Lerma, Mexico, to produce a range of multiple application additives ranging from a PET recycling chain extenders to additives used in the surface treatment of nanomaterials. The plant has an annual production capacity of 250 metric tonnes per year and its launch is the result of 10 years of research. Its processes were developed at Grupo Kuo's R&D center, the company said in a news release.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Global Leaders Gather to Inaugurate World-Class Research University
King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) August 31st, 2009 We Welcome Your Coverage WHAT: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) holds its Inaugural Ceremony. KAUST is opening its 36-million-square meter (8,900-acre) campus in September 2009, welcoming a founding faculty of more than 60 accomplished scientists and engineers from around the world and an equally diverse inaugural class of 345 graduate students to the shores of the Red Sea. This independent, merit-based university has already formed research collaborations with leading academic institutions and companies, and houses some of the world's most sophisticated research equipment and facilities, including the region's fastest supercomputer. As the Inauguration will show, KAUST is a global gathering point of some of the best minds to solve challenging scientific and technological problems.

Breathalyzer test detects lung cancer: study
google.com August 31st, 2009 Scientists in Israel have devised a portable breath tester that detects lung cancer with 86 percent accuracy, according to a study released Sunday. The device could provide an early warning system that flags the disease before tumours become visible in X-rays, the researchers reported in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. "Our results show great promise for fast, easy and cost-effective diagnosis and screening of lung cancer," they said. The sensor uses gold nanoparticles to detect levels of so-called volatile organic compounds (VOC) -- measured in a few parts per billion -- that become more elevated in cancer patients.

IEET Issues and Ethics
IEET August 31st, 2009 Mike Treder: At this blog, we often write about the ethical considerations of various issues. Sometimes, but less frequently, we'll discuss cutting-edge transformative technologies, usually designated as Nano (advanced nanotechnology), Bio (genetic engineering and biotechnology), Info (information technology, including artificial intelligence), and Cogno (cognitive technology, including virtual reality). But since we are the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, it is important for us to do both—to connect our ethical concerns with projected technological developments.

Platinum nanocatalyst could aid drugmakers: Rice chemists design polymer-coated nanorods for industrial use
Rice University August 31st, 2009 Nanoparticles combining platinum and gold act as superefficient catalysts, but chemists have struggled to create them in an industrially useful form. In the Sept. 1 issue of the German scientific journal Angewandte Chemie, Rice University chemists report making a plastic-coated gold-platinum nanorod that can be used in the organic solvents favored by chemical and drug manufacturers. Tests reveal that the polymer-functionalized particles have nearly 100 percent catalytic selectivity for the hydrogenation of terminal olefins.

USTC to Build Solar Energy Research Center
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) August 31st, 2009 Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) authorized the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) to build the Research and Demonstration Center for Integrated Utilization of Solar Energy in Hefei, Anhui province on August 29, 2009.

Award for turning wool into gold: A Victoria University scientist has won a prestigious innovation award for turning pure New Zealand Merino wool into gold.
Victoria University of Wellington August 31st, 2009 Professor Jim Johnston was this week awarded one of five 2009 Bayer Innovators Awards for developing a world-first process in which nano-particles of pure gold and silver are embedded in New Zealand merino wool to create a luxury fibre that can be used in high-end fashion garments, textiles and carpets.

Think zinc: Molecular sensor could reveal zinc's role in diseases
Imperial College London September 1st, 2009 Scientists have developed a new molecular sensor that can reveal the amount of zinc in cells, which could tell us more about a number of diseases, including type 2 diabetes. The research, published today in Nature Methods, opens the door to the hidden world of zinc biology by giving scientists an accurate way of measuring the concentration of zinc and its location in cells for the first time.

Acoustic tweezers can position tiny objects
Penn State September 1st, 2009 Manipulating tiny objects like single cells or nanosized beads often requires relatively large, unwieldy equipment, but now a system that uses sound as a tiny tweezers can be small enough to place on a chip, according to Penn State engineers.

Toray, China BlueStar Establishes Water Treatment Joint Venture in China
Toray Industries September 1st, 2009 Toray Industries, Inc. (headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan; President & CEO: Sadayuki Sakakibara; hereinafter referred to as "Toray") and China National BlueStar (Group) Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Beijing, China; Chairman: Ren Jianxin; hereinafter referred to as "China BlueStar") announced that the companies on July 17 established a water treatment joint venture Toray BlueStar Membrane Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "TBMC") in Beijing. The new company has a capital of 35 million U.S. dollars (approximately 3.5 billion yen) and 180 workers and engages in production, sales and import and export of water treatment membrane products.

Leading OLED Lighting Companies Gather at OSC-09
cintelliq September 1st, 2009 Leading OLED lighting companies attend OSC-09 to discuss the latest technology trends, device performance, manufacturing needs and lighting standards

SET Receives Strategic Wafer Level Packaging Equipment Order from SEMATECH at UAlbany NanoCollege
SEMATECH September 1st, 2009 SEMATECH Will Perform Innovative 3D Applications at CNSE's Albany NanoTech with SET's High Accuracy FC300 System

Promise of nanodiamonds for safer gene therapy
Northwestern University September 1st, 2009 Gene therapy holds promise in the treatment of a myriad of diseases, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes, among many others. However, developing a scalable system for delivering genes to cells both efficiently and safely has been challenging.

£6m funding boost for super-fast computers
Queen’s University Belfast September 1st, 2009 Computers which use light to process large amounts of data faster than ever before are just one of many groundbreaking potential applications of a new £6 million research programme at Queen's and Imperial College London, launched today, 1 September 2009.

World's smallest semiconductor laser heralds new era in optical science
University of California, Berkeley September 1st, 2009 Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have reached a new milestone in laser physics by creating the world's smallest semiconductor laser, capable of generating visible light in a space smaller than a single protein molecule.

City College sees boost in research funding
crainsnewyork.com September 1st, 2009 Grants rose 21.5% to $55.2 million for the 2008-2009 fiscal year, as federal money helped launch programs in cancer research and nanoscience. Spurred by new programs related to cancer and nanoscience, funding for research at the university increased 21.5% to $55.2 million for the 2008-09 year fiscal year.

Entrepreneurial engineer receives national, local honors
University of Louisville September 1st, 2009 "This year is one of the most exciting years of my life." That probably is an understatement by University of Louisville postdoctoral student Mehdi Yazdanpanah, for whom 2009 has brought two significant awards that are positioning his nanomaterials research and related company — NaugaNeedles LLC — for growth.

TVB Tech Alert: First Image of a Molecule Captured
televisionbroadcast.com/ September 1st, 2009 IBM Researchers have captured the first-ever image of a molecule using a very sophisticated type of resonance imaging. The image, of the hydrocarbon pentacene, was captured using an atomic force microscope, clearly revealing the substance's six, hexagonal rings and its atomic bonds with hydrogen atoms on the perimeter.The molecule measures 1.4 nanometers, roughly a million times smaller than a grain of sand.

Stanford researchers grow nanowire crystals for 3-D microchips
Stanford University September 1st, 2009 Stanford researchers have developed a method of stacking and crystalline semiconductor layers that sets the potential for three-dimensional microchips.

2009 Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials
NSF September 2nd, 2009 NSF announces eight Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials awards on materials for renewable energy, materials for advanced electronics, biomaterials, organic and polymeric materials.

Attend Annual NanoScience Technology Symposium
University of Central Florida September 2nd, 2009 The Nanoscience Technology Center at UCF invites researchers from both academia and industry in the State of Florida to participate in NanoFlorida 2009, the second annual symposium on nanoscience and nanotechnology, being held on September 25 - 26th, 2009 at the University of Central Florida - Student Union.

Boron-based compounds trick a biomedical protein
University of Oregon September 2nd, 2009 University of Oregon chemists, biologists team to boost boron's expanding use in medicine

NonClonable™ Security Technology
Bilcare Research September 2nd, 2009 onClonable™ Security Technology By Bilcare

Abu Dhabi Institute Chooses Asylum Research MFP-3D AFM and NanoIndenter
Asylum Research September 2nd, 2009 Asylum Research and the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) announced today that the Institute's Laboratory for Energy and Nano-Science (LENS) has acquired Asylum's MFP-3D Stand Alone Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) and instrumented NanoIndenter to perform research aimed at improving the efficiency of thermoelectric materials and developing non-destructive tools for thin film characterization of photovoltaics.

Swansea researchers to study safety of nanoparticles
Swansea University September 2nd, 2009 Researchers at Swansea University's Centre for NanoHealth have been awarded £1 million by the Research Councils' Nanoscience through Engineering to Application cross-council programme, led by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC), to analyse the levels at which nanoparticles can be deemed safe within cells.

SUNY Chancellor visits HCCC
wktv.com September 2nd, 2009 Nancy Zimpher has been chancellor of the State University of New York and shortly after being named to her post, has traveled the state visiting each of SUNY's 64 campuses. Monday Herkimer County Community College was on the schedule as Zimpher met with local leaders, faculty, students and community members. She discussed the recently announced SUNYIT-UAlbany Nanoscience partnership and how it could benefit Herkimer.

Research and Markets: Thin Films and Porous Materials - Materials Science Forum Vol. 609
Research and Markets September 3rd, 2009 Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Thin Films and Porous Materials - Materials Science Forum Vol. 609" report to their offering. Selected, peer reviewed papers from the first International Conference on Thin Films and Porous Materials.

Appalachian receives $509,620 NSF grant to purchase new transmission electron microscope
Appalachian State University September 3rd, 2009 Appalachian State University's William C. and Ruth Ann Dewel Microscopy Facility has received a $509,620 award from the National Science Foundation to purchase a state-of-the-art transmission electron microscope/scanning transmission electron microscope (TEM/STEM).

Bristol University demonstrates world's-first optical quantum computer
expertreviews.co.uk September 3rd, 2009 The University of Bristol has created the world's first optical quantum computer capable of performing mathematical calculations. The computer used single particles of light (photons) passing through a silicon chip to work out the prime factors of the number 15 (three and five). The chip has four photons that carry the input for the calculations (in binary a four-digit input allows for all numbers between 0 and 15). The input is analysed using a quantum program, which calculates the prime factors. "The really exciting thing about this result is that it will enable the development of large scale quantum circuits for photons. This opens up all kinds of possibilities," said O'Brien.

GLO AB closes SEK 82M series B investment round
GLO AB September 3rd, 2009 Swedish nanotechnology company to transition to pilot production phase for ground-breaking semiconductor nanowire LEDs for general illumination.

Virginia Tech's proposed next generation nano-CT system will enhance nano-scale research
Virginia Tech September 3rd, 2009 In 1991, Ge Wang produced the first paper on spiral cone-beam computed tomography (CT), now an imaging technique used in the mainstream of the medical CT field. Today, Wang, known as a pioneer in this field, and his colleagues have been awarded more than $1.3 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop the next-generation nano-CT imaging system, which promises to greatly reduce the required dose of radiation. Virginia Tech and Xradia, a leading nano-CT company, are also collaborating on the project with a cost-sharing investment of close to $800,000.

Time for technology democracy
theage.com.au September 3rd, 2009 Consider the Federal Government's recently announced National Enabling Technologies Strategy to explore the paradox between Carr's promises and actual policymaking processes. The Federal Government has labelled biotechnologies and nanotechnologies as "enabling technologies". Both these areas of science are highly controversial, raising multiple and diverse social, health, economic, ethical and environmental issues. Given the highly controversial nature of biotechnology and nanotechnology, it is not surprising the National Enabling Technologies Strategy makes a stated commitment to engage the public as part of the policy process. However, in reality this public engagement is simply not happening. As a result, Australians will have little opportunity to contribute to the development of policy related to these new technologies -despite the profound impacts they are likely to present for all Australians.

Chemists Reach from the Molecular to the Real World with Creation of 3-D DNA Crystals
Brookhaven National Laboratory September 3rd, 2009 New York University chemists have created three-dimensional DNA structures, a breakthrough bridging the molecular world to the world where we live. The work, reported in the latest issue of the journal Nature, also has a range of potential industrial and pharmaceutical applications, such as the creation of nanoelectronic components and the organization of drug receptor targets to enable illumination of their 3D structures.

Nanotechnology company partners with UWEC
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire September 3rd, 2009 Partnership with Resonant Microsystems Inc. brings new opportunities to multiple science majors

Putin addressed representatives of the business community from Russia and Finland
isria.com September 3rd, 2009 We expect considerate and comprehensive discussion of these issues to continue at the forest summit in St Petersburg in October. Its results can then be developed into strategic plans for joint action that takes into account our interests, and those of our Finnish friends. And of course we associate the future development of economic cooperation with strengthening our cooperation in science-intensive and high-tech fields, for example in nanotechnology, something we also mentioned today.

Instant insight: A calculated risk
rsc.org September 3rd, 2009 How safe are nanoparticles? Amanda Barnard, at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Clayton, Australia, reveals how computation can help to identify and prevent nanohazards. For the move from nanoscience to nanotechnology to be sustainable, it is important that issues surrounding the risks be addressed before commercialisation, both in terms of exposure and potential nanohazards. Since we (as a society) are diligently producing more and more biodegradable and recyclable products, it is inevitable that any nanoparticles in them will be introduced into the natural world. Since we currently have no efficient way of extracting nanoparticles once released, we must assume that the duration of exposure is indefinite. The hazards associated with nanomaterials are another story. We already have the expertise required to assess and mitigate potential nanohazards. If done correctly, the overall risk can be significantly reduced - or even prevented entirely. But how do we move from hazard to prevention, and where do we start?

Graphene made magnetic with hydrogen coating
eetimes.com September 4th, 2009 Graphone, a new magnetic version of carbon monolayers called graphene, could enable a new breed of carbon spintronic devices, researchers claim. Graphene, consisting of pure crystalline carbon sheets, cannot be doped with impurities to adjust its semiconducting and magnetic properties as easily as silicon since carbon does not readily "heal" implantations with annealing. Rather than implanting dopants, researchers say, a surface treatment can be used to adjust a carbon sheet's properties. Researchers say hydrogen can be used to fine-tune graphene's metallic, semiconductor and magnetic properties, resulting in either graphene (metallic), graphane (semiconducting) or graphone (ferromagnetic). "Dangling bonds of carbon carry a magnetic moment, and these can be aligned ferromagnetically," said professor Purusottam Jena of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

Advances in Ovarian tumor Therapy Made at LIMR
Lankenau Institute for Medical Research September 4th, 2009 Cancer Research paper shows Nanoparticle Delivery System Slowed Ovarian Tumor Growth

First-ever calculation performed on optical quantum computer chip
University of Bristol September 4th, 2009 A primitive quantum computer that uses single particles of light (photons) whizzing through a silicon chip has performed its first mathematical calculation. This is the first time a calculation has been performed on a photonic chip and it is major step forward in the quest to realise a super-powerful quantum computer.

Nanoparticle research
theengineer.co.uk September 4th, 2009 A new £1m UK study will analyse the levels at which nanoparticles can be deemed safe within biological cells. The funds were awarded to researchers at Swansea University's Centre for NanoHealth by the EPSRC's Nanoscience through Engineering to Application cross-council programme. The funding is part of a larger £1.4m research grant to Swansea University and collaborators at the Institute of Materials Research at Leeds University who are developing techniques to accurately measure the nanoparticle dose delivered to biological cells, track the dose dilution as cells reproduce and provide vital information for researchers studying any potential toxic responses.

NANO KOREA focused on consumer electronics - microproduction costs shall sink
Informationsdienst Wissenschaft e.V. September 4th, 2009 Japan, Korea and Germany organized a conference in Seoul

OECD Conference on Fostering safe, Innovation-led growth in Nanotechnology
environmental-expert.com September 4th, 2009 There is little doubt that nanotechnology is delivering on its promise to revolutionize many sectors of the global economy. As nanoenabled products populate the commercial landscape at an accelerated pace, there is growing interest in developing tools that can be used to assess more precisely the benefits to the environment of nanotechnology and/or nanoenabled products. Largely in response to this growing interest, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) convened on July 15-17, 2009, a fascinating three- day conference in Paris, France, titled OECD Conference on Potential Environmental Benefits of Nanotechnology: Fostering Safe Innovation-Led Growth. The conference was intended to jump start a more structured dialogue aimed at identifying and quantifying the environmental benefits of nanotechnology while fostering the safe, innovation-led growth of nanotechnology. The conference attracted over 200 attendees from all over the world. The Conference Steering Committee elected to use the term "life-cycle perspectives" to characterize the need to consider both the benefits and impacts throughout the life cycle of the nanomaterial or nanotechnology application.

SOURCE: NANOTECHWEB.ORG NEWSWIRE

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

Golden opportunity for early detection of Alzheimer's Antibody modified nanoparticles reveal signature protein

http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/40256

DNA scaffolds could make nano-circuits

'DNA origami' puts tiny structures where researchers want them

http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/40252

Self-perfection by liquefaction shrinks waveguide loss Selective smoothing boosts on-chip light transmission and opens door to nanophotonic integration

http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/40183

Nanotubes deliver fast, effective ablation Dose of multiwalled carbon nanotubes, plus short exposure to NIR light, ramps up survival of tumour-bearing mice

http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/40166

Joule heating transforms silicon nanochains into CNTs Japanese team now working on device applications

http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/40176

*** BUYERS GUIDE SPOTLIGHT - Optical Microscopy ***